Author
Trump won’t ‘even consider’ push to rename bases honoring Confederates
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee this week adopted an amendment to require the Defense Department to rename U.S. military facilities named in honor of Confederates. The amendment from Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat, was adopted during a closed-door vote on annual defense policy legislation. The language was approved by a voice […]
George Floyd’s brother: ‘Make sure that he is more than another face on a T-shirt’
WASHINGTON — George Floyd’s younger brother, Philonise Floyd, pleaded with lawmakers on Capitol Hill Wednesday to ensure that his brother didn’t die in vain. “I can’t tell you the kind of pain you feel when you watch something like that. When you watch your big brother, who you looked up to your whole entire life […]
Congressional Dems lay out expansive police reform plans
WASHINGTON — Congressional Democrats outlined their vision for sweeping police reforms on Capitol Hill Monday, following weeks of nationwide protests sparked by the death of George Floyd in Minnesota. “Never again should the world be subjected to witnessing what we saw on the streets of Minneapolis: the slow murder of an individual by a uniformed […]
President Trump plans July 4 celebration despite pandemic
WASHINGTON — The COVID-19 pandemic hasn’t upended President Donald Trump’s plans to hold a Fourth of July celebration in the nation’s capital this summer. The White House told the Associated Press this week that Trump intends to move ahead with a scaled-back version of last year’s massive “Salute to America” event on the National Mall. […]
House’s $3T relief bill has been declared ‘dead on arrival’ in Senate
WASHINGTON — The U.S. House on Friday cleared a massive $3 trillion relief bill aimed at blunting the health and economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. The sweeping legislation, which passed largely along partisan lines by a vote of 208-199, carries a price tag that’s roughly equal to the four previous coronavirus response bills already signed into law. […]
Grassley appears to back limits on corporate liability tied to COVID-19
WASHINGTON — Iowa Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley signaled Tuesday that he backs a push from Senate GOP leadership to shield business owners from lawsuits related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Grassley, a senior member of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, questioned business leaders at a hearing on Capitol Hill as lawmakers debated whether Congress should prioritize […]
From hospital, Justice Ginsburg slams Trump birth control rules
WASHINGTON — Hospitalization for a gallbladder condition didn’t stop U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg from assailing the Trump administration’s birth control rules on Wednesday. Ginsburg, 87, was hospitalized at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore on Tuesday night, but was animated as she participated in an oral argument via teleconference surrounding a Trump administration policy that […]
Trump’s critics warn his order to keep meat plants open imperils workers
WASHINGTON — Democratic senators are accusing President Donald Trump of putting workers at risk by ordering meat and poultry processors to remain open during the COVID-19 pandemic. Senate Democrats are asking Trump to amend an executive order he signed last week, which declared meat plants to be “critical infrastructure” and ordered his administration to ensure that they […]
Coastal donors plow cash into Iowa campaigns
WASHINGTON — Last fall, Peter Baldwin, a history professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, sent a campaign contribution to a congressional hopeful two time zones away. Iowa Democrat J. D. Scholten, who narrowly lost his 2018 bid to unseat 4th District Iowa Republican Rep. Steve King, announced last August that he would take […]
U.S. Supreme Court tosses gun case as Kavanaugh urges future debate
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday avoided issuing a landmark Second Amendment ruling in a closely watched gun rights case, but set the stage for future legal battles. A divided court ruled that a challenge to New York City gun restrictions was moot because the city had later changed its regulations. The case had been billed […]
U.S. Congress clears $484B relief bill as lawmakers pledge future aid for states
WASHINGTON — The U.S. House on Thursday overwhelmingly approved nearly $500 billion in additional COVID-19 relief, the bulk of which is aimed at buoying small businesses after loan funding dried up. The House cleared the $484 billion funding bill along bipartisan lines as some lawmakers returned to Washington for the first time since March. The […]